WE WERE IN A BRIGHTLY LIT, UNREMARKABLE HALLWAY. The walls were off-white, thefloor carpeted in industrial gray. Common rectangular fluorescent lights were spaced evenly along theceiling. It was warmer here, for which I was grateful. This hall seemed very benign after the gloom of theghoulish stone sewers.

　　Edward didn't seem to agree with my assessment. He glowered darkly down the long hallway, towardthe slight, black shrouded figure at the end, standing by an elevator.

　　He pulled me along, and Alice walked on my other side. The heavy door creaked shut behind us, andthen there was the thud of a bolt sliding home.

　　Jane waited by the elevator, one hand holding the doors open for us. Her expression was apathetic.

　　Once inside the elevator, the three vampires that belonged to the Volturi relaxed further. They threwback their cloaks, letting the hoods fall back on their shoulders. Felix and Demetri were both of a slightlyolive complexion—it looked odd combined with their chalky pallor. Felix's black hair was cropped short,but Demetri's waved to his shoulders. Their irises were deep crimson around the edges, darkening untilthey were black around the pupil. Under the shrouds, their clothes were modern, pale, and nondescript. Icowered in the corner, cringing against Edward. His hand still rubbed against my arm. He never took hiseyes off Jane.

　　 The elevator ride was short; we stepped out into what looked like a posh office reception area. The wallswere paneled in wood, the floors carpeted in thick, deep green. There were no windows, but large,brightly lit paintings of the Tuscan countryside hung everywhere as replacements. Pale leather coucheswere arranged in cozy groupings, and the glossy tables held crystal vases full of vibrantly coloredbouquets. The flowers' smell reminded me of a funeral home.

　　In the middle of the room was a high, polished mahogany counter. I gawked in astonishment at thewoman behind it.

　　She was tall, with dark skin and green eyes. She would have been very pretty in any othercompany—but not here. Because she was every bit as human as I was. I couldn't comprehend what thishuman woman was doing here, totally at ease, surrounded by vampnes.

　　She smiled politely in welcome. "Good afternoon, Jane," she said. There was no surprise in her face asshe glanced at Jane's company. Not Edward, his bare chest glinting dimly in the white lights, or even me,disheveled and comparatively hideous.

　　Jane nodded. "Gianna." She continued toward a set of double doors in the back of the room, and wefollowed.

　　As Felix passed the desk, he winked at Gianna, and she giggled.

　　On the other side of the wooden doors was a different kind of reception. The pale boy in the pearl graysuit could have been Jane's twin. His hair was darker, and his lips were not as full, but he was just aslovely. He came forward to meet us. He smiled, reaching for her. "Jane.""Alec," she responded, embracing the boy. They kissed each other's cheeks on both sides. Then helooked at us.

　　"They send you out for one and you come back with two… and a half," he noted, looking at me. "Nicework."She laughed—the sound sparkled with delight like a baby's cooing.

　　"Welcome back, Edward," Alec greeted him. "You seem in a better mood.""Marginally," Edward agreed in a flat voice. I glanced at Edward's hard face, and wondered how hismood could have been darker before.

　　Alec chuckled, and examined me as I clung to Edward's side. "And this is the cause of all the trouble?"he asked, skeptical.

　　Edward only smiled, his expression contemptuous. Then he froze.

　　"Dibs," Felix called casually from behind.

　　Edward turned, a low snarl building deep in his chest. Felix smiled—his hand was raised, palm up; hecurled his fingers twice, inviting Edward forward.

　　Alice touched Edward's arm. "Patience," she cautioned him.

　　They exchanged a long glance, and I wished I could hear what she was telling him. I figured that it wassomething to do with not attacking Felix, because Edward took a deep breath and turned back to Alec.

　　"Aro will be so pleased to see you again," Alec said, as if nothing had passed.

　　 "Let's not keep him waiting," Jane suggested.

　　Edward nodded once.

　　Alec and Jane, holding hands, led the way down yet another wide, ornate hall—would there ever be anend?

　　They ignored the doors at the end of the hall—doors entirely sheathed in gold—stopping halfway downthe hall and sliding aside a piece of the paneling to expose a plain wooden door. It wasn't locked. Alecheld it open for Jane.

　　I wanted to groan when Edward pulled me through to the other side of the door. It was the same ancientstone as the square, the alley, and the sewers. And it was dark and cold again.

　　The stone antechamber was not large. It opened quickly into a brighter, cavernous room, perfectly roundlike a huge castle turret… which was probably exactly what it was.

　　Two stories up, long window slits threw thin rectangles of bright sunlight onto the stone floor below.

　　There were no artificial lights. The only furniture in the room were several massive wooden chairs, likethrones, that were spaced unevenly, flush with the curving stone walls. In the very center of the circle, in aslight depression, was another drain. I wondered if they used it as an exit, like the hole in the street.

　　The room was not empty. A handful of people were convened in seemingly relaxed conversation. Themurmur of low, smooth voices was a gentle hum in the air. As I watched, a pair of pale women insummer dresses paused in a patch of light, and, like prisms, their skin threw the light in rainbow sparklesagainst the sienna walls.

　　The exquisite faces all turned toward our party as we entered the room. Most of the immortals weredressed in inconspicuous pants and shirts—things that wouldn't stick out at all on the streets below. Butthe man who spoke first wore one of the long robes. It was pitch-black, and brushed against the floor.

　　For a moment, I thought his long, jet-black hair was the hood of his cloak.

　　"Jane, dear one, you've returned!" he cried in evident delight. His voice was just a soft sighing.

　　He drifted forward, and the movement flowed with such surreal grace that I gawked, my mouth hangmgopen. Even Alice, whose every motion looked like dancing, could not compare.

　　I was only more astonished as he floated closer and I could see his face. It was not like the unnaturallyattractive faces that surrounded him (for he did not approach us alone; the entire group convergedaround him, some following, and some walking ahead of him with the alert manner of bodyguards). Icouldn't decide if his face was beautiful or not. I suppose the features were perfect. But he was asdifferent from the vampires beside him as they were from me. His skin was translucently white, likeonionskin, and it looked just as delicate—it stood in shocking contrast to the long black hair that framedhis face. I felt a strange, horrifying urge to touch his cheek, to see if it was softer than Edward's orAlice's, or if it was powdery, like chalk. His eyes were red, the same as the others around him, but thecolor was clouded, milky; I wondered if his vision was affected by the haze.

　　He glided to Jane, took her face in his papery hands, kissed her lightly on her full lips, and then floatedback a step.

　　"Yes, Master." Jane smiled; the expression made her look like an angelic child. "I brought him back alive,just as you wished.""Ah, Jane." He smiled, too. "You are such a comfort to me." He turned his misty eyes toward us, and the smile brightened—became ecstatic.

　　"And Alice and Bella, too!" he rejoiced, clapping his thin hands together. "This is a happy surprise!

　　Wonderful!"I stared in shock as he called our names informally, as if we were old friends dropping in for anunexpected visit.

　　He turned to our hulking escort. "Felix, be a dear and tell my brothers about our company. I'm sure theywouldn't want to miss this.""Yes, Master." Felix nodded and disappeared back the way we had come.

　　"You see, Edward?" The strange vampire turned and smiled at Edward like a fond but scoldinggrandfather. "What did I tell you? Aren't you glad that I didn't give you what you wanted yesterday?""Yes, Aro, I am," he agreed, tightening his arm around my waist.

　　"I love a happy ending." Aro sighed. "They are so rare. But I want the whole story. How did thishappen? Alice?" He turned to gaze at Alice with curious, misty eyes. "Your brother seemed to think youinfallible, but apparently there was some mistake.""Oh, I'm far from infallible." She flashed a dazzling smile. She looked perfectly at ease, except that herhands were balled into tight little fists. "As you can see today, I cause problems as often as I cure them.""You're too modest," Aro chided. "I've seen some of your more amazing exploits, and I must admit I'venever observed anything like your talent. Wonderful!"Alice flickered a glance at Edward. Aro did not miss it.

　　"I'm sorry, we haven't been introduced properly at all, have we? It's just that I feel like I know youalready, and I tend get ahead of myself. Your brother introduced us yesterday, in a peculiar way. Yousee, I share some of your brother's talent, only I am limited in a way that he is not." Aro shook his head;his tone was envious.

　　"And also exponentially more powerful," Edward added dryly. He looked at Alice as he swiftlyexplained. "Aro needs physical contact to hear your thoughts, but he hears much more than I do. Youknow I can only hear what's passing through your head in the moment. Aro hears every thought yourmind has ever had."Alice raised her delicate eyebrows, and Edward inclined his head.

　　Aro didn't miss that either.

　　"But to be able to hear from a distance…" Aro sighed, gesturing toward the two of them, and theexchange that had just taken place. "That would be so convenient."Aro looked over our shoulders. All the other heads turned in the same direction, including Jane, Alec,and Demetri, who stood silently beside us.

　　I was the slowest to turn. Felix was back, and behind him floated two more black-robed men. Bothlooked very much like Aro, one even had the same flowing black hair. The other had a shock ofsnow-white hair—the same shade as his face—that brushed against his shoulders. Their faces hadidentical, paper-thin skin.

　　 The trio from Carlisle's painting was complete, unchanged by the last three hundred years since it waspainted.

　　"Marcus, Caius, look!" Aro crooned. "Bella is alive after all, and Alice is here with her! Isn't thatwonderful?"Neither of the other two looked as if wonderful would be their first choice of words. The dark-hairedman seemed utterly bored, like he'd seen too many millennia of Aro's enthusiasm. The other's hice wassour under the snowy hair.

　　Their lack of interest did not curb Aro's enjoyment.

　　"Let us have the story," Aro almost sang in his feathery voice.

　　The white-haired ancient vampire drifted away, gliding toward one of the wooden thrones. The otherpaused beside Aro, and he reached his hand out, at first I thought to take Aro's hand. But he justtouched Aro's palm briefly and then dropped his hand to his side. Aro raised one black brow. Iwondered how his papery skin did not crumple in the effort.

　　Edward snorted very quietly, and Alice looked at him, curious.

　　"Thank you, Marcus," Aro said. "That's quite interesting."I realized, a second late, that Marcus was letting Aro know his thoughts.

　　Marcus didn't look interested. He glided away from Aro to join the one who must be Caius, seatedagainst the wall. Two of the attending vampires followed silently behind him—bodyguards, like I'dthought before. I could see that the two women in the sundresses had gone to stand beside Caius in thesame manner. The idea of any vampire needing a guard was faintly ridiculous to me, but maybe theancient ones were as frail as their skin suggested.

　　Aro was shaking his head. "Amazing,"' he said. "Absolutely amazing."Alice's expression was frustrated. Edward turned to her and explained again in a swift, low voice.

　　"Marcus sees relationships. He's surprised by the intensity of ours."Aro smiled. "So convenient," he repeated to himself. Then he spoke to us. "It takes quite a bit to surpriseMarcus, I can assure you."I looked at Marcus's dead face, and I believed that.

　　"It's just so difficult to understand, even now," Aro mused, staring at Edward's arm wrapped around me.

　　It was hard for me to follow Aro's chaotic train of thought. I struggled to keep up. "How can you standso close to het like that?""It's not without effort," Edward answered calmly.

　　"Butstill—la tua cantante! What a waste!"Edward chuckled once without humor. "I look at it more as a price."Aro was skeptical. "A very high price.""Opportunity cost." Aro laughed. "If I hadn't smelled her through your memories, I wouldn't have believed the call of anyone'sblood could be so strong. I've never felt anything like it myself. Most of us would trade much for such agift, and yet you…""Waste it," Edward finished, his voice sarcastic now.

　　Aro laughed again. "Ah, how I miss my friend Carlisle! You remind me of him—only he was not soangry.""Carlisle outshines me in many other ways as well.""I certainly never thought to see Carlisle bested for self-control of all things, but you put him to shame.""Hardly." Edward sounded impatient. As if he were tired of the preliminaries. It made me more afraid; Icouldn't help but try to imagine what he expected would follow.

　　"I am gratified by his success," Aro mused. "Your memories of him are quite a gift for me, though theyastonish me exceedingly. I am surprised by how it… pleases me, his success in this unorthodox path he'schosen. I expected that he would waste, weaken with time. I'd scoffed at his plan to find others whowould share his peculiar vision. Yet, somehow, I'm happy to be wrong."Edward didn't reply.

　　"But your restraint!" Aro sighed. "I did not know such strength was possible. To inure yourself againstsuch a siren call, not just once but again and again—if I had not felt it myself, I would not have believed."Edward gazed back at Aro's admiration with no expression. I knew his face well enough—time had notchanged that—to guess at something seething beneath the surface. I fought to keep my breathing even.

　　"Just remembering how she appeals to you…" Aro chuckled. "It makes me thirsty."Edward tensed.

　　"Don't be disturbed," Aro reassured him. "I mean her no harm. But I am so curious, about one thing inparticular." He eyed me with bright interest. "May I?" he asked eagerly, lifting one hand.

　　"Ask her," Edward suggested in a flat voice.

　　"Of course, how rude of me!" Aro exclaimed. "Bella," he addressed me directly now. "I'm fascinated thatyou are the one exception to Edward's impressive talent—so very interesting that such a thing shouldoccur! And I was wondering, since our talents are similar in many ways, if you would be so kind as toallow me to try—to see if you are an exception for me, as well?"My eyes flashed up to Edward's face in terror. Despite Aro's overt politeness, I didn't believe I really hada choice. I was horrified at the thought of allowing him to touch me, and yet also perversely intrigued bythe chance to feel his strange skin.

　　Edward nodded in encouragement—whether bec............